Sunday, September 30, 2012
Week of October 1st.
I can't believe it's already October! I'm looking forward to all of the great learning and fun traditions that we have planned for this month....
Looking Ahead...
We will be taking our first field trip to Powell Hall next week, October 11th. This field trip is only for the classroom teachers and students. I will not need parent volunteers. Thanks to all of those who have offered to help! For those of you who are new to Kennerly, this is a field trip through the music department. It is a district-wide event. The students will have the opportunity to watch a mini-opera at Powell Hall. It's a time when many students enjoy "dressing up" a little more than usual. Their dress may look similar to Picture Day.
You will be receiving a permission slip for our second field trip that will shortly follow Powell Hall. It is scheduled for October 18th. We will be attending Powder Valley off Watson Road.
This is a morning field trip (9:00 - 11:00). I will be looking for volunteers to help with small groups of children. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. You will need to provide your own transportation.
Don't forget...
Bingo Night this Friday, October 5th, 7:00 p.m. I hope to see you there!
Fundraisers are also due this Friday!
Please remember to return Library books on Monday!
What's Happening in Room 113...
Reading Block - We are rotating through our Literacy stations. Each day your child is participating in a small guided reading group, word work, independent reading (high interest books and leveled text), journal writing, and reading to someone. The students are doing great during the block of time. This week we will begin our focus on the specific reading strategies that are used during reading. Look for a special bookmark to come home in your child's reading envelope that will help you support these strategies. Please leave the bookmark in the envelope for future reference.
Writer's Workshop - We are working on our second published book. We have been focusing on telling good stories using a beginning, middle, and end. We have learned how to "fatten up" the middle of the story by using two or more details. We will now begin to add that important writing technique to our own personal narratives this week as we approach our new book making.
Math - We are practicing the skill of subtraction. We have been playing games and using subtraction sentences to solve short word problems. Please continue to provide your child with simple math stories that involve subtraction. Ask your child to show you with simple pictures how they would set up the problem and then demonstrate a subtraction sentence to match the picture. Use math language (subtraction, equals, minus, difference, subtraction sentence) to reinforce the concepts.
Science - We are continuing our learning on living and non-living things. We explored plants and life cycles last week. We will begin to look at animals and how they grow and change this week.
Spelling - We will have some informal spelling checks this week. Please hang on to the list that your child has. It should be put in a prominent place so that you remember to practice reading and writing/spelling the words daily. Try having your child write sentences that incorporate those words too.
often, the transfer of the words to their writing is the most difficult. I will be looking for that transfer during the spelling checks. Once I feel that your child is ready, I will send home the next list.
Special Guest - We will have a Lindenwood Student, Miss Angela, in our classroom every Monday and Friday throughout the month of October. She is fulfilling her practicum hours for her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education. We welcome Angela to our room!
Looking Ahead...
We will be taking our first field trip to Powell Hall next week, October 11th. This field trip is only for the classroom teachers and students. I will not need parent volunteers. Thanks to all of those who have offered to help! For those of you who are new to Kennerly, this is a field trip through the music department. It is a district-wide event. The students will have the opportunity to watch a mini-opera at Powell Hall. It's a time when many students enjoy "dressing up" a little more than usual. Their dress may look similar to Picture Day.
You will be receiving a permission slip for our second field trip that will shortly follow Powell Hall. It is scheduled for October 18th. We will be attending Powder Valley off Watson Road.
This is a morning field trip (9:00 - 11:00). I will be looking for volunteers to help with small groups of children. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. You will need to provide your own transportation.
Don't forget...
Bingo Night this Friday, October 5th, 7:00 p.m. I hope to see you there!
Fundraisers are also due this Friday!
Please remember to return Library books on Monday!
What's Happening in Room 113...
Reading Block - We are rotating through our Literacy stations. Each day your child is participating in a small guided reading group, word work, independent reading (high interest books and leveled text), journal writing, and reading to someone. The students are doing great during the block of time. This week we will begin our focus on the specific reading strategies that are used during reading. Look for a special bookmark to come home in your child's reading envelope that will help you support these strategies. Please leave the bookmark in the envelope for future reference.
Writer's Workshop - We are working on our second published book. We have been focusing on telling good stories using a beginning, middle, and end. We have learned how to "fatten up" the middle of the story by using two or more details. We will now begin to add that important writing technique to our own personal narratives this week as we approach our new book making.
Math - We are practicing the skill of subtraction. We have been playing games and using subtraction sentences to solve short word problems. Please continue to provide your child with simple math stories that involve subtraction. Ask your child to show you with simple pictures how they would set up the problem and then demonstrate a subtraction sentence to match the picture. Use math language (subtraction, equals, minus, difference, subtraction sentence) to reinforce the concepts.
Science - We are continuing our learning on living and non-living things. We explored plants and life cycles last week. We will begin to look at animals and how they grow and change this week.
Spelling - We will have some informal spelling checks this week. Please hang on to the list that your child has. It should be put in a prominent place so that you remember to practice reading and writing/spelling the words daily. Try having your child write sentences that incorporate those words too.
often, the transfer of the words to their writing is the most difficult. I will be looking for that transfer during the spelling checks. Once I feel that your child is ready, I will send home the next list.
Special Guest - We will have a Lindenwood Student, Miss Angela, in our classroom every Monday and Friday throughout the month of October. She is fulfilling her practicum hours for her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education. We welcome Angela to our room!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Thank you to our Volunteers
Thank you to Mrs. Yarbrough for reading to our classroom last Friday. Also, thank you to the helpers that stepped in this week to help out during our first week of center rotations (Mrs. Otten, and Mrs. Little). We appreciate your help!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Blake's Caring Bridge Link
As you all know, Blake faces the challenges of Cystic Fibrosis. His mom has shared the link for all of his classmates to view if you would like to keep up with how he's feeling. Right now, Blake is doing great!
We are so excited to have him in our classroom and continuing to feel well!
We are so excited to have him in our classroom and continuing to feel well!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Communication
If your child is experiencing social issues with peers in the classroom or on the playground please let me know. I want to foster an environment where we work together to help your child learn from those experiences. Often, those issues become great topics for class meetings. I know as a parent, that children are often not comfortable sharing everything with their teacher, but will unload on the parents! Please don't ever hesitate to bring anything to my attention. By working together, we can help your child experience success both academically and socially.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
A Look at the "Stars" Sept. 11th
Today in Social Studies we talked about how proud we are to be Americans!! We watched a special video that was very powerful! check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watchv=sLvJrTwkNlk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
When we were discussing all of the things that we are lucky to have in America (freedom, medical care, clothes, food) one little girl said, "We are sooo lucky to have a Wal-Mart!" That's what I love about first grade!
We have been practicing "reading to someone." We are continuing to build our stamina by reading high interest books from our book tubs and leveled books from our book boxes to our turn and talk partner. Ask your child to show you what that looks like.
Tonight I sent home a writing sheet for you to help your child complete. We are writing books about small moments from our life and learning how to stretch them out across several pages by adding detail. We are also learning some more craft techniques to add to our writing. Today we practiced adding sound effects! Ask your child to tell you about some of the sound effects they have added to their books.
Today we played a domino game in math. Ask your child how to play!
Using dominoes to write addition sentences is a great way to practice addition and develop mental math skills.
When we were discussing all of the things that we are lucky to have in America (freedom, medical care, clothes, food) one little girl said, "We are sooo lucky to have a Wal-Mart!" That's what I love about first grade!
We have been practicing "reading to someone." We are continuing to build our stamina by reading high interest books from our book tubs and leveled books from our book boxes to our turn and talk partner. Ask your child to show you what that looks like.
Thank you to Mrs. Stetzel and Mrs. Webb-Little for reading as our
Friday Friends last week.
Remember tomorrow is an Early Release Day. The students will get out of school at 1:40.
Today we played a domino game in math. Ask your child how to play!
Using dominoes to write addition sentences is a great way to practice addition and develop mental math skills.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
September Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Carley, Gracie, and Makenzie who are celebrating September birthdays this month.
Mrs. Marcinkiewicz visits our classroom
Mrs. Marcinkiewicz, our school counselor, visited our classroom today and helped the students learn about manners on the playground, in the hallway, and in the classroom. The students practiced introducing themselves to other people and learned what it looks like to be a good listener. Your child should be coming home to tell you what they learned and bringing a paper with them that you need to sign after your discussion. Don't forget to sign the paper and have your child return it tomorrow to enter into a special Friday drawing!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Week Of September 4th
I hope everyone had a nice, long weekend. It was so great to see many of you last week during our Currouiculum Night. I hope that you left with a better understanding of what our first grade classroom looks like. I will try to keep you informed weekly with classroom updates.
A look at the classroom this week...
Reading - We will be focusing on Nonfiction for the next 4 weeks.
*We will be noticing differences in fiction and nonfiction texts.
*Asking questions to focus on what we want to learn.
*Deciding what to read to answer our questions: locating information
*Monitoring and revising our questions
*Using pictures and context to learn about new words
*Learning about topics and supporting details
*Writing about our new learning: organizing our thinking
*Sharing new learning
Writing - We will be using different craft techniques the next four weeks to emphasize the message in our writing. The types of craft techniques that will be studied include:
*Varied sentence lengths
*Different sentence beginnings
*Sound effects
*Repetition
*Figurtive Language
*Showing thoughts and feelings
*Lists
*Small Moment and Many Moment Stories
Some of the authors that you may want to explore that use these different craft techniques include:
*Ezra Jack Keats
*Angela Johnson
*Jane Yolan
*Cynthia Rylant
*Donald Crews
*Eve Bunting
*Mem Fox
Talk to your child about his/her daily writing activities. Encourage them to try some of the techniques these authors use in their own daily writing during Writers' Workshop.
Math - We will be exploring order property to achieve the sum. The children will recognize that 2+3 =5 as well as 3+2=5. We will play games and continue to work through our math book and extra practice and challenge pages. Your child may come home with an extra practice or a challenge page for homework.
Social Studies- We are continuing our unit on, "Families." Please help your child remember to complete and return the interview on his/her Grandparent by this Tuesday.
A look at the classroom this week...
Reading - We will be focusing on Nonfiction for the next 4 weeks.
*We will be noticing differences in fiction and nonfiction texts.
*Asking questions to focus on what we want to learn.
*Deciding what to read to answer our questions: locating information
*Monitoring and revising our questions
*Using pictures and context to learn about new words
*Learning about topics and supporting details
*Writing about our new learning: organizing our thinking
*Sharing new learning
Writing - We will be using different craft techniques the next four weeks to emphasize the message in our writing. The types of craft techniques that will be studied include:
*Varied sentence lengths
*Different sentence beginnings
*Sound effects
*Repetition
*Figurtive Language
*Showing thoughts and feelings
*Lists
*Small Moment and Many Moment Stories
Some of the authors that you may want to explore that use these different craft techniques include:
*Ezra Jack Keats
*Angela Johnson
*Jane Yolan
*Cynthia Rylant
*Donald Crews
*Eve Bunting
*Mem Fox
Talk to your child about his/her daily writing activities. Encourage them to try some of the techniques these authors use in their own daily writing during Writers' Workshop.
Math - We will be exploring order property to achieve the sum. The children will recognize that 2+3 =5 as well as 3+2=5. We will play games and continue to work through our math book and extra practice and challenge pages. Your child may come home with an extra practice or a challenge page for homework.
Social Studies- We are continuing our unit on, "Families." Please help your child remember to complete and return the interview on his/her Grandparent by this Tuesday.
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